Round 2, 2012 NSW CUP Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks v Balmain Ryde Eastwood Tigers @ Leichhardt Oval, Saturday, March 10, 03:00pm

[rahnos]

Match report here: http://nswrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=48615 Highlights package should be up in the next day or so.

cheers mate

 

[Mark^Bastard]

How much of a god damn machine Is Friz by the way? He is massive.

 

[josh11223344]

leutele is just too good for that comp as we all know. I hope we just stick with him in 1sts when he get's another shot, he has what it takes to be a dangerous ball running 1st grader which is something we don't really have.

 

[ABshark]

Just watched this. Interesting game. Leutele and Frizell look NRL ready, but then Matt Wright looked a lot better too so who knows.

I'm a bit concerned with how Robson started the game but after he was benched and then especially when he was playing half back late in the game he looked solid.

I thought Chad was good for a lot of the game. There was one horrible kick where it went out on the full, but the rest of his field of play kicks were really good and something we definitely need. His conversions were horrible. He also stopped commiting in defence which is a worrying sign, but didn't have the bad errors in attack that Robson had early on. He also had some good try assists.

By the way, how funny was Robson doing a peachey for that last try? The camera didn't show it but his foot must have been milimetres away from the dead ball line when he put it down.

Thanks for the thoughts Mark.

I'm starting to wonder whether maybe I ought to change my stance on Leutele. I saw the highlights from Rd 1 and he looked outstanding. I've always know that he's a 'pure' centre, but just unsure whether he has the extra 'x-factor' of speed or power to make an impact in the NRL. I'm still doubtful but maybe he deserves a shot on the wing to see how he handles things this time round. Certainly got a great shimmy.

How'd he compare to Wright in terms of speed and threat with the ball? Because at this stage I think Wright has the skills but not the extra stuff- speed, footwork mostly- to make much of a mark in first grade. Also, how was Feki? And Peachey?

Wish I had caught the game. Looking forward to seeing the highlights.

 

[Mark^Bastard]

A few things I took away from watching the game is comparing Leutele to Wright, but also comparing both those guys, and Feki, to the Storm backs (Chambers, Waqa).

First of all, all five outside backs looked on par. There was no massive jump in skill level with any of them. They looked like a great 1-5 all together.
Secondly, Leutele Vs Wright is an interesting match up because Leutele does everything wright. He has incredible footwork and seems to always do the correct thing to find the line or find open space. I really liked watching him. Wright on the other hand has the footwork of a prop. He just plods, but he still seems to get roughly the same results a lot of the time. I don't know if that means at that level that it's more about strength, speed and size than it is about skill but I found it interesting.
Wright didn't look bad at fullback, surprisingly. But he wasn't really tested much either.

I would say that at NRL level Leutele will hold his own with speed. Not lightning fast but certainly not slow. Power is a bit of a worry perhaps. It's clear to me that Best and Pomeroy have been dominating with power in the two games so far and I don't think Leutele would manage that, and that's probably the big difference. He seems more skilled than them.

Feki was okay. He didn't carve up, but he held his own. Had the odd run showing speed I wasn't expecting. Looked like he can handle wing but wasn't really tested a lot either.

Peachey was a lot like in the NYC. Very skilled back rower. Kicked a nice little grubber that would have resulted in a try but Balmain tapped it over the dead ball, so we got the restart. He also ran in a very easy looking try however looked good while doing it.

With Graham going to bench lock/utility it's hard to see Peachey getting a run, however I believe he could play NRL and look good.

It's important to note that Balmain were for the most part no match for the Sharks. It was like watching Under 16's play Under 14's. So you'd have to take any analysis with a grain of salt.

 

[Mark^Bastard]

Oh and overall I'd say both Chad and Robson were disappointing. I can see why Graham was given first shot, he's clearly a better player over all. He just isn't right for the position or doesn't combine well with Carney. I can see why Flanno thought it was worth a try.

 

[slide rule]

Just watched this. Interesting game. Leutele and Frizell look NRL ready, but then Matt Wright looked a lot better too so who knows.

I'm a bit concerned with how Robson started the game but after he was benched and then especially when he was playing half back late in the game he looked solid.

I thought Chad was good for a lot of the game. There was one horrible kick where it went out on the full, but the rest of his field of play kicks were really good and something we definitely need. His conversions were horrible. He also stopped commiting in defence which is a worrying sign, but didn't have the bad errors in attack that Robson had early on. He also had some good try assists.

By the way, how funny was Robson doing a peachey for that last try? The camera didn't show it but his foot must have been milimetres away from the dead ball line when he put it down.

What happened to Chad when Robson was playing half back? I'm presuming he was subbed? Was there any indication that he may be injurred?

 

[Mark^Bastard]

Yeah he was subbed.

I dunno why, a few possible reasons.

1 - Was hooked. He had some soft mid-field defence before it. Like he had a player wrapped up but sort of gave up and let the fella keep running.
2 - The game was more than won so maybe they wanted Robson to play some half back. Robson was off for a fair bit to let the bench hooker have a dig. At the end the bench hooker remained at hooker and Robson went to half, so it could just be a planned interchange.
3 - Some sort of minor injury could explain the defence and the subbing off.

I must say, his confidence looked down all game. There was hecklers yelling out 'lolly legs' every time he went for a conversion and it's probably part of the reason he missed so many. He just didn't look right.